THE PLATFORM-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-
THE PLATFORM
-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-
Editor: Gene Altiere
712 Medical Arts Building
Duluth, MN 55802
The last Saturday in March found several MKG members gathered together in Tony Romano's basement to bust stone and swap tales. Leroy Gonsior dropped bye with a few samples of some high grade Cedar Valley chert for us all to try. Jim Regan made a rather nice Agate Basin blade from the material. This particular grade of Cedar Valley is supposed to turn a rich earthy red when heat treated and the editor is looking forward to seeing the results of heat treating and trying some of the treated material. The particular batch of stone came from the Minnesota - Wisconsin border on the Wisconsin side but deposits are found in both states.
A few months ago Leroy talked Jim and Tony into helping James Myster from Bimidji State University with a paper he was preparing on the reduction of regional lithic materials. Jim and Tony spent the better part of a day reducing Cedar Valley and Galena Chert from raw stage to finished points. The archaeologists bagged every speck of debitage to be later weighed and cataloged. That kind of close observation can take the fun out of knapping but the exchange of information has been a two way street between MKG and the regional archaeologists and we continue to enjoy an excellent working relationship. In addition to this project and the one at the Misiano site, MKG knappers have also assisted Tom Penders of the University of Florida who is working on his Master's degree thesis and needed replications of some Florida Archaic blades to study their effect on bone and antler during the butchering process.
For those of you who have seen the most recent issue of the Wisconsin Archaeologist, you are aware that Tony Romano's article on the Duluth Clovis has been printed. Students of the Lake Superior basin should be thrilled as this places man in the immediate vicinity of Duluth at 11,000 to 12,000 years BP! And for those of you interested in copper knapping tools, the editor has recently found out that Tony and archaeologist (and MKG member) John Whittaker plan on writing an article dealing with some recent copper tool finds. This type of article often takes several months to research and write but we'll provide a summary report in "the Platform" as soon as we can.
Guild members Joe Neubauer, Jim Regan, Tony Romano and the editor along with Jim and Tony's wives and new MKG member Wanda Benson all traveled in caravan down to Ft. Osage for the Spring Knap-in the third weekend in May. Unofficially there were about 120 knappers registered this year! Once again it was an incredible experience. The editor spent most of his time with fellow MKG member Mike Ash from Kansas. Mike is a very talented jeweler and flintknapper whose method of wire-wrapping a point for necklace display is both beautiful and unique. The editor finally has the technique mastered (he thinks). Again, there was an incredible variety of stone for sale at some reasonable prices. John Whittaker was there with his ever-present note pad. The editor finally discovered the reason for that note pad when he recently received John's new publication on flintknapping. This new book deserves a whole article and besides, we're not done reading it yet but you can look forward to a complete report on this important new text in a future issue. Gary Neuenschwander, a MKG member from Missouri was there and we spent some time swapping bowhunting stories. The editor got so tied up with all there was to do that he didn't hardly get a chance to talk to fellow editor (CHIPS), Val Waldorf. Val and DC Waldorf, who have been MKG supporters since we first started publishing our newsletter, were also on hand. Joe Neubauer (who doesn't knap but whose empirical knowledge of Indian artifacts is phenomenal) spent his time renewing old friendships and adding more data to that incredible filing cabinet he calls his brain. This was Joe's first trip to Ft. Osage and he commented that it was something one could not describe but simply had to experience...we agree. Ed.
by Anthony D. Romano
Gunflint Silica is a variable material that grades from poor to excellent quality. Some examples have a dull, matte-like surface and others exhibit a beautiful, glossy finish. As I have reported before, Gunflint Silica is filled with inclusions greatly differing in size and random placement. The grains can range from the finely ground size to infrequent, 1 mm smooth-margined granules. The variation in concentration of these inclusions creates materials which are from transparent to very dark, sometimes a deep black. Some examples are almost transparent with very few inclusions. All thin sections, no matter how black, when held to light readily display the chalcedonic translucent matrix regardless of how heavily it is filled. Small, "dusty" particles can clump together to form rough-edged, irregular masses. Some rocks contain sufficient hematite to exhibit red streaking.
There is no question about the frequency and broad distribution of Gunflint Silica as a knapping material. In practically all of the sites in the Pine City, Minnesota area, Gunflint Silica is well represented. Just recently I had the good fortune to examine three or four gallons of waste flakes from the Northwest Trading Post site just west of Pine City on the Snake River . Minnesota Knappers Guild member, Joe Neubauer, had the foresight and scientific interest to collect waste flakes from the plowed fields at the Post Site in the 1960's. His purpose in doing this was to identify the kind of rock used for tool preparation, and if possible, to determine their sources. We estimated fully 15% of the waste flakes were Gunflint Silica. Bright, young archaeologists who have learned recently to readily recognize Gunflint Silica, report its occurrence in Noble County (Minnesota) and as far away as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I was surprised to see numerous large flakes of the material found at the bison kill site at Granite Falls (carbon-dated older than 6,000 B.P.). I was also the first to identify numerous tools and cores of it for Riad Malik and Elden Johnson, who as Ph.D candidate and advisor, were working on edge-wear analysis of an assemblage of artifacts excavated from terraces along the shore of Mille Lacs Lake at Malmo, Minnesota. Just recently I found a square piece of high quality Gunflint Silica in my asparagus patch measuring two by two by one inches which bore scars of removed flakes with highly visible bulbs of percussion and crushed areas of impact on the platform.
Even with all of the preceding information, if it was indeed correctly interpreted and presented, we were still inadequately informed concerning Gunflint Silica's location, formation and availability. One undisputable source is from the glacial till, at least in the Pine City area. The extensive use of Gunflint Silica by early man in our area meant that either it had to have been traded from the Gunflint Formation area, or it was found in the local glacial till. Sufficient unworked chunks of Gunflint Silica (as well as Jasper Taconite and Kakabeca Chert) found in road cuts and new plowing attested to its local availability. However, I have never found a piece that was workable because of extreme jointing. The existence of a past trading network can be no more than speculated.
And then there was a glimmer of light. A few years ago, "Platform" editor, Gene Altiere met Leroy Warren, a DNR geologist working on the Mesabi Range. Gene asked him to keep his eye open for any silicious materials that might show good conchoidal fracture. The geologist brought him a few chunks of a black, dull-surfaced rock found 200 feet deep in the Dunka Pit near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Range and, in turn, Gene brought it to me to try to identify. I removed several thin flakes, and, to my amazement, it was a matte-like surfaced Gunflint Silica!
Last fall, Darrol Schmidt, fellow MKG member and shovel operator (Huge! 24 yards in one scoop) for the Hibbing Tac Mine, north of Hibbing and Chisholm in the heart of the Biwabic Formation on the Mesabi Iron Range, informed us he had discovered some knappable stone. He sent generous samples of a cherty stone he had uncovered with his gigantic, electrically operated shovel. He stated there was vast quantities of the stuff, and he had been knapping some of it. There was no question about it. The stone was once again not the highest grade, but very homogeneous and knappable----GUNFLINT SILICA!
Darrol arranged a tour through Hibbing Tac, and one rainy afternoon Darrol, Pat, my wife, and I donned hard hats, put containers and tools in a company truck and rode through all the mining activity while Darrol acted as guide-interpreter. We arrived at the site and approached a wall about 50 feet tall. There toward the top, capped by a layer of black, slatey rock was a continuous seam of gleaming Gunflint Silica up to two feet thick, gradually sloping toward the southeast as far as the eye could see. I collected three buckets full with more enthusiasm than care with all the excitement. It was also stimulating to find along with the Gunflint Silica in the material Darrol had knocked down for us, rock specimens strikingly similar to Jasper Taconite and Kakabeca Chert. This surprising mix was a clear message to me once again that all of the Anamikie rocks were closely related.
After I returned home and satisfied myself the stone was knappable (not the easiest) I convinced an unbelieving Jim Regan into taking a large piece, sawing it into slabs and making me a fully fluted Clovis like those I knew had been made by the Paleo people in northern Minnesota of the same material. He was amazed and I was overjoyed by the perfect Clovis he made with one flute running the entire length of the two and three-quarter inch point on one side and three quarters of the length on the other side. Jim was especially impressed by how well the material fluted.
I contacted Darrol to inform him of my findings and to ask some more questions. This prompted him to consult mining stratigraphic records and other texts. From these sources we learned there are four main stratigraphic divisions in the iron formation: Upper Slatey, Upper Cherty, Lower Slatey and Lower Cherty. Darrol informs me the Gunflint Silica occurs at the junction of the Lower Slatey and the Lower Cherty----and it is not only an identifiable formation at the Mesabi Range, but also runs clear through the Gunflint Formation! This most important piece of information is supported by Gruner, 1946, who quotes Grout and Broderick, 1919, observing that "At the top of the lower cherty beds, a hard chert crops out in many places, indicating a continuous formation over the length of the range." (We will conclude with part III in the next issue - Ed.)
1992 - As for excavation south of "Main", the 'T' trench (Projects), materials continued to be uncovered from the far east and west units. Tbe units in tbe center of the trench became sterile when we hit glacial till. Therefore, we opened new units surrounding the east and west units to try and identify hearths or other features which might be associated with the concentrations of lithic materials. No features yet, but we did recover a beautiful, heavily worn, trihedral adze (woodworking tool). (and now there were three!!)
For Area B, which was much like Area C, there were a lot of primary reduction siltstone flakes, as well as some secondary reduction and retouch or resharpening flakes, but no firehearths. The questions were: 1) Why was there a predominance of primary reduction flakes encountered in Areas B and C; 2) Why weren't firehearths found in these areas, since the same size area was opened as in Area A which produced flake concentrations mostly in association with firehearths; 3) Why did Area A mostly contain secondary reduction and retouch flakes; and, 4) What was the rock pattern about in Area A?
1992 - So the question is, what's going on at McDougal Lake?
From the above discussion of the three Excavation Areas, as well as the questions raised, I would suggest that the same activity was not going on in Areas B and C, that was going on in Areas B and C, that was going on in Area A. Secondly, the three trihedral adzes were recovered within five meters of each other, with none coming from Area A.
If you were there in early summer, you didn't have the opportunity to see the Anna Mae Fredrickson collection, which she donated to the SNF about mid-summer. When I saw this, it knocked my socks off....It was the piece of the puzzle I was searching for!! In my mind, it help explains the when, the who and the why the people were there!! While there is no exact province on the materials, I suspect that some of the materials came from the vicinity of the campground, as you will also hopefully see.
Mrs. Fredrickson is a +40 year resident of McDougal Lake and has picked-up artifacts from around the shoreline for many years. Her collection included three trihedral adzes and at least two large siltstone bifaces. These three adzes, plus the three we recovered during excavation at the site, brings the total to nine adzes that we have recorded from the entire Forest. All of these adzes suggest some kind of specialized woodworking activity occurred at Misiano.
Another interesting point to note is that of the fifteen fire hearths recorded in Area A, only two produced burnt animal bone. If these fire hearths recorded in Area A, only two produced burnt animal bone. If these fire hearths were used for food preparation, as they would be on a habitation site, then shouldn't all, or at least most of them produce animal bone? From the two that did, we know that the bone would have been preserved, had it been thrown in the fire. Related to this, the bone that was recovered appears to be small mammal...Does this represent the cuisine of the day or only a fortuitous snack? I would argue for the latter. What this all suggests to me is that the hearths were not used for food preparation, but had another intended use.
Finally the rock patterns. If these don't represent the edge "holddowns" of a tent-like structure, could they be used to support something, like a large log?? Well folks, the time has come to suggest an end to the Misiano Mystery!! (this is a good place to interrupt Dr. Peters' letter. We'll print the last part in the next issue. -Ed.)
EDITOR'S REPORT: Dr. Peters is very excited about the findings at the Misiano site and is trying to make the public more aware of these archaeological findings. Recently he asked the MKG if they would be willing to participate in some reproduction work. MKG members Tony Romano and Jim Regan spent several days making a dozen tetrahedral adzes from medium to poor grade siltstone. If any of you have ever worked that awful stuff you know that it requires massive percussion to shape it and you can just about forget pressure flaking! While the knapping was interesting, the overall project sounds fantastic. Dr. Peters and his crew are going to try to duplicate the construction of a wood dugout using only primitive tools. Sounds like a lot of work but we wish them luck and hope that a dozen adz are enough... that stuff is tough to work!
Notching of stone points or blades can be accomplished with a variety of tools and techniques. Some knappers are purists and insist on using only tools which were available to early man. Others appreciate the efficiency and convenience of modern tools, such as copper tipped pressure flakers. I will describe some of the tools that you can make and use for notching. The final choice of course, will be yours to make. In this issue of the "Platform" I will deal only with the tools themselves. In a future issue I will describe how to use them.
(These illustrations were originally printed in the next issue.)
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